Top Metro salaries total $3.1 million in 2011

WASHINGTON – Metro commuters know how much it costs to ride the transit system. Here’s how much those running it make.

The Washington Post reports Metro’s top 16 executives made $3.1 million last year, at a time when the agency is trying to close a budget deficit and riders face fare increases of about 5 percent.

General Manager Richard Sarles earns a $350,000 salary, making him one of the highest-paid heads of a major U.S. transit agency and placing him in the top 5 percent of median household incomes in the D.C. region.

Metro is the No. 2 rail system in the U.S. Sarles earned more than his New York counterpart in 2011, the Post reports, and also took home more than system chiefs in Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Sarles’ top deputies also all earn six figures. For example, deputy general manager of operations Dave Kubicek earns $240,000 a year and gets an annual housing allowance of $30,000.

For a list of Metro’s top salaries, follow this link for the Post article.